An initiative to be pushed
Editorial
THE move by a group from Barbados in collaboration with hotels and travel agencies here to push a Guyana-Barbados connection, has much to commend it. As the organisers explain it, the initiative has stemmed from the influx of visitors between Guyana and Barbados last year. To advance the trend, the Caribbean Tourism Development Services and local airlines and hotels have combined forces to introduce a Guyana-Barbados promotional package to boost travel in the region and intra-Caribbean tourism. A compelling reason for those in the industry to back the initiative is the potential it has for developing this country's tourism sector. The launching of the Guyana-Barbados connection coincided with the arrival here of a top level trade team from Jamaica, which can also help the local tourism sector. Trade, Tourism and Industry Minister, Mr Geoffrey Da Silva, yesterday said he and Jamaica Foreign Trade Minister, Mr Anthony Hylton, who is heading the Jamaica trade team now here, have talked about cooperation between Guyana and Jamaica in tourism. "We need people to come here and work with us because this industry is growing... "We have to address the question of standards, training, marketing and the Jamaicans have a lot of experience in these areas and we want to see how we can benefit from that experience which they have", he said. Way to go. Both Jamaica and Barbados are prime Caribbean tourist destinations and tourism officials in the two countries have vast experience in the sector. Initiatives from these two countries and others in the Caribbean Community are therefore worth exploring and it is in this regard that the proposed Guyana-Barbados connection can be fruitful. Director of Tourism at the Ministry of Trade, Tourism and Industry, Ms Tessa Fraser, has welcomed the initiative which she says is very important to Guyana. She has touched on some problems which have to be addressed to ensure the move works. One immediate benefit Guyanese would welcome is Ms Fraser's hope that the harassment of Guyanese by Barbadians will not occur in the future, with the birth of this joint tourism venture. Many Guyanese, for a variety of reasons, have experienced hassles at the hands of immigration and other officials in Barbados and we share her hope that efforts would be made to erase the impression that Guyanese are given a hard time simply because they are Guyanese. It is also important for Guyanese, as Ms Fraser urges, to adhere to immigration regulations at all times when visiting any country. The Caribbean Tourism Development Services says it has "structured some tours which would make it easier for the travellers - those travelling from Guyana and those to Barbados - thus, the Guyana-Barbados connection was formed". "We have come up with creative ideas to sell Guyana", a company official said Friday. Guyana has a lot to offer and initiatives like this can be of immense value in the expansion of the tourism sector here.
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